Human Rights Council

Daughter of former Gaza hostage confronts UN over UNRWA funding despite Hamas ties

UNRWA was founded in 1949 and operates in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, providing humanitarian aid and education for Palestinians.

|ByMAYA ZANGER-SHAMIR
Neta Heiman Mina, whose mother was held hostage in Gaza for nearly 2 months, speaks to a UN human rights panel on September 15, 2026.
Palestinians walk past a destroyed Israeli armored vehicle left behind by the Israeli army during the recent war, in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City, September 7, 2026.

UN human rights chief accuses Israel of war crimes following remains discovered under Gaza rubble

He claimed that the discoveries revived concerns raised in a 2024 UN report that found Israeli strikes on residential buildings during the early weeks of the war may have violated humanitarian law.

|ByREUTERS
The UN Charter was not intended to create a supranational government, but an organization with limited powers dependent on the good faith of its sovereign member states.PremiumPremium

The United Nations has drifted beyond its charter - it is time to rethink it - opinion

As political majorities increasingly push the UN beyond the limits of its Charter, institutional renewal has become an urgent necessity

|ByALAN BAKER
Protesters hold signs outside the Royal Courts of Justice, after High Court judges ruled the British government’s decision to designate pro‑Palestinian group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation unlawful, in London, Britain, February 13, 2026.

UN rights office says US terror designation of Palestine Action threatens free speech

Palestine Action has targeted Israel-linked defence companies in Britain, especially Israel's largest defence firm Elbit Systems, often blocking entrances or spraying red paint.

|ByREUTERS

UNHRC to hold special session on Iran, human rights violations

The UNHRC needed one-third of the 47 members of the Council's support is required in order to hold a special session.

NOVEMBER 21, 2022ByNOA FEIGENBAUM
Deputy Minister, Alvin Botes delivers a National Statement at the Annual High Level Panel on Human Rights Mainstreaming under the theme “Thirty years of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: challenges and opportunities”, at the UNHRC, Geneva.

Would the FBI come to different conclusion of Shireen Abu Akleh's death? - editorial

The US administration said that the ballistics test of the bullet fragment was "inconclusive." The UNHRC came to a similar conclusion.

NOVEMBER 16, 2022ByJPOST EDITORIAL
Palestinians walk in front of a mural depicting the slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh ahead of the visit of US President Joe Biden at Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank July 13, 2022

Europe calls for UNHRC debate on Iran protests, human rights violations

Germany and Iceland submitted a request on Friday on behalf of dozens of countries to hold a special session at the UN Human Rights Council on the ongoing protests in Iran.

NOVEMBER 12, 2022ByREUTERS
Overview of the session of the Human Rights Council during the speech of U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, February 27, 2020.

Diplomatic invective: UN takes its war on Israel to next level - opinion

the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) did not mention a word about Hamas. It only dealt with Israel, which appears 277 times in the report. 

NOVEMBER 4, 2022ByDORE GOLD
MEMBERS OF THE United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Navanethem Pillay, Miloon Kothari and Chris Sidoti, attend a press briefing at the United Nations headquarters in New York, last week.

Jewish organizations denounce UN's COI report: 'Distorted and biased'

OCTOBER 22, 2022ByOMRI NAHMIAS
Overview of the session of the Human Rights Council during the speech of U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, February 27, 2020.

The United Nations needs to be reimagined and reformed - opinion

A survey in The Washington Post said 84% of people agree with the statement: “I would rather be a citizen of America than of any other country in the world.”

OCTOBER 18, 2022ByERIC R. MANDEL
THE UNITED NATIONS headquarters building in New York City, and the UN logo: Today’s UN needs to be reimagined and reformed to address the limited problems it can effectively handle, says the writer.

UNHRC refuses to debate China's human rights violations

47-member body rejected text in a narrow vote of 17-19, with 11 abstentions • FM claims victory after human rights body approves first Israeli resolution

OCTOBER 6, 2022ByTOVAH LAZAROFF
Activists take part in a protest against China's treatment towards the ethnic Uyghur people and calling for a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, at a park Jakarta, Indonesia, January 4, 2022

Qatar UN envoy deletes Twitter account after uproar over cursing Jews, gay men

Tweets by the Qatari UN envoy cited antisemitic tropes and called on God to "curse" gay people.

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022ByTZVI JOFFRE
Twitter app logo is seen in this illustration taken, August 22, 2022.

China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang - UN report

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet recommended the Chinese government take prompt steps to release all those detained in training centers, prisons or detention facilities.

SEPTEMBER 1, 2022ByREUTERS
: Activists take part in a protest against China's treatment towards the ethnic Uyghur people and calling for a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, at a park Jakarta, Indonesia, January 4, 2022.

UN on track to violate both Charter and Staff Rules - opinion

Serious consideration should be given to terminating the functioning and financing of this ill-advised and damaging Inquiry Commission.

AUGUST 9, 2022ByALAN BAKER
Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room of the Palace of Nations, Geneva (Switzerland). It is the meeting room of the United Nations Human Rights Council.